THE  TRUE  ISSUES  NOW  INVOLVED. 


Shall  the  Republic  stand  on  the  foundation  laid  by 
our  Patriotic  Fathers,  or  shall  the 
Nation  be  sacrificed  to  the  covetousness  and 
knavery  of  the  Confederates  in  Treason  ? 


THE 


LOYAL  NORTHERN  DEMOCRACY 


ABHOR 


SECESSION,  REBELLION, 


AND 


DISUNION. 


•JUDGE  WOODWARD’S  POSITION  DEFINED 

ON 

SLAVERY,  SECESSION,  AND  THE  WAR. 


N.  B.  BROWNE,  ESQ.,  TO  THE  HON.  CHARLES  J.  BIDDLE. 


113  South  Fifth  Street, 
August  28th,  1863. 


Hon.  Charles  J.  Biddle, 

Chairman  of  the  Democratic  State  Central  Committee. 


Sir  : 

I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yours  of  the  27th  inst.  in  regard  to  my 
remarks  concerning  Judge  Woodward,  on  taking  the  chair  at  the  meeting  of 
the  National  Union  Party  on  Wednesday  evening  last.  The  published  reports 
of  the  speeches  delivered  on  that  occasion  are  obviously  incomplete,  and  not 
intended  to  be  full  or  literal.  I  certainly  did  not  undertake  to  represent  Judge 
Woodward’s  opinions  on  the  issues  now  pending,  from  my  own  personal  know¬ 
ledge  ;  for,  I  am  not  aware  of  having  exchanged  words  with  him  since  the  out¬ 
break  of  the  present  rebellion.  On  the  contrary,  in  commenting  upon  the  opi¬ 
nions  which  I  attributed  to  him,  I  expressly  stated  either  my  authority,  or  the 


2 


nature  of  it,  quoting  partly  from  his  speech  of  December  13,  1860,  and  partly 
from  current  reports  of  his  opinions,  unreservedly  given  and  made  public  bv 
their  frequent  repetition;  and,  in  reference  to  these  latter,  stating  that  I  had 
them  from  undoubted  sources,  and  could  therefore  speak  of  them  as  confidently 
as  if  I  had  them  from  personal  knowledge. 

But  as  my  remarks  have  been  thought  worthy  of  your  attention,  and  that 
there  may  be  no  room  for  misapprehension  in  regard  to  them,  it  is  but  fair  to 
myself  as  well  as  Judge  Woodward  that  I  should  repeat  them  for  your  infor¬ 
mation.  I  do  so  from  a  written  draft  of  them. 

In  speaking  of  the  remark  recently  made  by  a  leading  Southern  journal,  that 
since  the  defeat  at  Gettysburg  and  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  the  only  hope 
of  the  South  tvas  in  French  intervention,  or  Democratic  successes  at  the  North, 

I  said  11  that  foreign  intervention  was  too  remote  a  probability  for  them  to  de¬ 
pend  upon;  but  as  to  the  latter  part  of  the  programme,  the  Southern  rebels 
themselves  could  not  well  have  chosen  more  fitting  instruments  than  the  prin¬ 
cipal  Democratic  nominees  at  the  North.  To  say  nothing  of  the  candidate  for. 
the  Governorship  of  Ohio,  it  might  be  affirmed  of  Judge  Woodward,  the  no¬ 
minee  in  this  State,  that  if  John  C.  Calhoun  himself — that  arch-traitor — could 
be  raised  from  his  dishonored  grave,  and  placed  in  the  gubernatorial  chair  of 
Pennsylvania,  he  could  not  serve  the  interests  of  the  Rebellion  better.  I  say 
this  without  any  want  of  respect  to  Judge  Woodward  ;  for  his  ability,  high  cha¬ 
racter,  and  sincerity,  are  undoulged.  But  these  very  qualities,  in  the  present 
case,  make  such  opinions  the  more  dangerous,  and  lend  them  an  influence 
more  potent  for  evil. 

11  To  prove  this,  I  have  only  to  ask  your  attention  briefly  to  his  views  on  the 
three  issues,  at  this  time  transcending  all  others  in  importance;  I  mean,  Sla¬ 
very,  Secession,  and  the  War  for  the  Union.  On  each  of  these,  Judge  Wood¬ 
ward  entertains  the  views  of  the  most  extreme  Southern  radicalism. 

u  First,  as  to  Slavery.  He  is  not  content  to  stand  with  the  State  Rights 
Democracy  of  other  days,  and  leave  slaveholders  in  the  possession  of  such  rights  , 
and  protection  as  they  had  under  the  Constitution.  But  in  his  speech  of  De¬ 
cember,  1860,  he  boldly  proclaims  that  ‘  human  bondage  and  property  in  man  is 
divinely  sanctioned,  if  not  ordained;’  and  that 1  Negro  Slavery  is  an  incalculable 
blessing.’  These  opinions,  thus  uttered,  have  lost  nothing  by  the  lapse  of  time; 
for  on  another  occasion,  he  declared,  unreservedly  and  emphatically,  that  1  to 
think  against  Slavery  is  a  sin,  to  talk  against  it  is  a  crime  !’  And  more  lately, 
he  has  affirmed,  that  ‘  agitation  on  the  subject  of  Slavery  is  infidelity,  and  comes 
from  the  instigation  of  Satan.' 

11  But,  as  to  Secession.  Judge  Woodward  approves  of  the  course,  and  justifies 
the  act  of  Secession,  if  he  appears  to  hesitate  as  to  the  absolute  right  of  it. 
Although  looking  in  the  opposite  direction,  he  yet  sustains  and  encourages 
Secession,  and  no  man  need  go  further.  Practically,  the  people  of  the  South 
have  reached  Secession  by  the  same  road.  He  may  be  sincere  and  conscien¬ 
tious  in  his  views,  but  he  must  bear  the  responsibility  of  having  given  the 
sanction  of  his  name  and  high  position  to  their  rebellious  course.  For  if  his 
speech  of  1860  left  any  doubt  on  that  point,  the  recent  approval  and  indorse¬ 
ment  of  it,  on  his  behalf,  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  State  Central 
Committee,  removes  that  doubt.  To  republish  such  sentiments,  after  the  fact 
of  Secession,  is  an  aggravation  of  the  original  offence,  hard  to  reconcile  with 
loyalty. 

“  Thirdly.  Judge  Woodward  is  opposed  to  the  war,  and  in  favor  of  peace,  on 
any  terms  ;  as  much  so  as  Vallandigham,  or  Fernando  Wood.  I  have  heard 
it  stated,  that,  on  former  occasions,  he  rebuked  the  earlier  concessions  of  his 
own  party  to  the  patriotic  war  spirit  of  the  country.  But  we  have  no  need  to 
place  this  upon  any  uncertain  authority;  we  have  his  language  in  1860,  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  Secession  :  ‘  We  hear  it  said,  Let  South  Carolina  go  out  of  the  Union 
peaceably;  I  say,  let  her  go  peaceably,  if  she  go  at  all.’  And  in  1863,  after 
South  Carolina  had  gone  out,  and  ten  other  rebellious  States  with  her,  to  re- 


peat  snch  language  is  to  say,  1  Let  them  all  go  peaceably.’  Truly,  with  the  suc¬ 
cess  of  such  a  candidate*  and  such  principles,  Gettysburg  will  have  been  fought 
in  vain;  the  battle  for  the  defence  of  our  own  soil  against  the  Rebellion  is  still 
to  be  fought.” 

These  were  my  remarks,  so  far  as  they  related  especially  to  Judge  Wood¬ 
ward,  somewhat  fuller  than  the  report,  but  substantially  as  delivered.  They 
are  at  your  service. 

You  will  perceive  that  no  statement  is  made  upon  my  personal  knowledge 
as  derived  from  him,  but  the  sources  of  my  information  are  indicated  in  every 
case.  I  may  add,  sir,  that  the  most  material  part  of  the  language  above  quoted, 
apart  from  the  speech  of  1860,  was  derived  by  me  from  a  public  address  deli¬ 
vered  in  this  city,  by  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  character,  several  months  be¬ 
fore  Judge  Woodward  was  nominated.  The  sentiment  then  attributed  was  re¬ 
garded  by  the  speaker,  and  I  believe  by  most  of  the  hearers,  as  presenting  the 
rare  moral  phenomenon  of  a  cultivated  and  Christian  mind  under  the  dominion 
of  such  an  idea,  as  that  “to  think  against  slavery  is  a  sin;”  and  how  little 
protection  against  the  lowest  form  of  prejudice  a  high  judicial  training  and 
position  afforded,  when  a  Judge  could  descend  from  the  supreme  tribunal  of 
the  State  to  define  it  to  be  “a  crime  to  talk  against  Slavery.”  • 

These  sentiments  thus  attributed  to  Judge  Woodward,  I  fear,  neither  he  nor 
you  can  escape.  That  speech,  which  must  have  sounded  like  a  new  and  strange 
Declaration  in  Independence  Square,  contains  them  in  express  terms,  or  by 
necessary  implication.  The  identical  thoughts,  indeed,  the  same  peculiar  turn 
and  force  of  expression,  are  there  No  candid  man  will  deny  it.  And  what¬ 
ever  of  error  that  speech  contained  originally,  has  acquired  startling  emphasis 
of  late,  repeated  and  approved  as  it  has  been  by  you  on  his  behalf.  Eleven  of 
the  States  have  seceded,  as  he  invited  them  to  do :  Slavery  has  solemnly  chal¬ 
lenged  the  world  as  to  her  right  to  be  the  corner-stone  of  society  and  govern¬ 
ment,  claiming,  as  he  did  for  it,  a  Divine  ordination;  and  the  rebellion,  in 
arms  for  more  than  half  a  presidential  term,  has  resisted  the  power  and  re¬ 
sources  of  the  Government,  encouraged  to  do  so  by  just  such  advocacy  of  peace 
on  any  terms.  And  yet  at  a  time  when  the  fairest  portion  of  your  State  was 
desolate  in  the  track  of  the  Southern  invader,  and  its  soil  was  red  with  the 
blood  of  so  many  thousands  of  loyal  soldiers  who  fell  in  its  defence,  you  rise  in 
your  chair  and  pronounce  such  sentiments  as  a  signal  exhibition  of  statesman¬ 
like  sagacity,  and  join  with  its  author  in  re-affirming  a  speech,  the  whole  argu¬ 
ment  of  which  was  to  prove  that,  in  this  controversy  with  rebellion,  the  South 
was  right  and  the  North  was  wrong! 

In  years  past,  when  the  defence  of  Southern  rights  and  institutions  was 
made  under  the  Constitution,  and  by  means  of  legitimate  agitation,  I  stood  in 
the  front  rank  of  their  friends  ;  but  from  the  hour  that  violent  hands  have  been 
laid  upon  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  an  impious  attempt  has  been 
made  to  overturn  both,  I  have  not  hesitated  as  to  my  duty  as  a  loyal-  citizen. 
The  example  of  such  loyal  Democrats  as  Cass  and  Dickinson,  Butler  and 
Dix,  Holt  and  Andrew  Johnson,  and  a  host  of  others,  is  sufficient  for  me.  I 
have  with  them  faithfully  upheld  the  Government,  with  whatever  influence  I 
possessed. 

Impressed  with  the  transcendent  importance  of  the  issue  now  before  the 
people  of  Pennsylvania,  I  spoke  at  the  meeting  on  Wednesday  evening,  of  the 
opinions  of  Judge  Woodward  with  plainness,  and  I  hope  with  courtesy  and  fair¬ 
ness.  If  in  my  remarks,  either  .sentiment  or  language  was  attributed  to  him 
which  he  disavows,  I  stand  ready  to  make  the  correction.  But  if,  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  they  are  substantially  accurate,  you  must  agree  with  me,  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  better  living  representative  of  the  principles  of  John  C. 
Calhoun  than  your  candidate. 

I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

N.  B.-  BROWNE. 


.A.  FEW  WORDS 


TO  LOYAL  DEMOCRATS. 

BY 

One  who  Knows  and  who  Honors  them. 


These  are  times  when  no  man  who  loves  his  country  can  he 
idle  in  her  defence,  or  silent  in  her  cause.  The  writer  of  these 
“Few  Words’'  has  been  familiar  with  the  political  history  of  the 
Republic  for  over  thirty  years.  He  has  never  held  or  desired  a 
political  office ;  never  sought  one  for  himself  or  for  a  friend. 
He  has  no  other  interest  to-day  in  the  result  of  any  election 
than  the  interest  common  to  all  loyal  citizens.  Yet  he  does  not 
deem  that  to  seek  office  or  to  accept  it  is  necessarily  to  be  defi¬ 
cient  in  patriotism ;  on  the  contrary,  he  knows  that  those  who 
for  good  motives,  and  with  loyal  views,  desire  to  serve  their 
country,  sacrifice  more  than  they  gain,  and  deserve  all  honor 
and  hearty  support.  They  are  the  men  whom  we  must  elect,  or 
leave  the  country,  as  has  been  too  much  our  misfortune,  to 
greedy  aspirants,  who  are  even  too  selfish  to  be  ambitious,  and 
who  would  rather  be  a  street-sweeper  than  President,  if  the  sa¬ 
lary  and  patronage  of  the  street  broom  were  as  great  as  those 
of  the  Executive  besom.  We  know  such  men  by  their  deeds 
and  by  their  words.  They  have  no  principles,  except  such  as 
are  marketable.  Pro-slavery  to-day,  they  would  be  Abolitionist 
to-night,  if  their  personal  ends  could  be  forwarded  thereby. 
Peace  men  now,  they  would  be  w'ar  men  to-morrow,  if  only  their 
precious  health  were  guaranteed  and  their  pockets  assured  of  a 
golden  lining. 


5 


Precisely  such  men  are  now  striving  to  embarrass  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  and  to  defeat  the  loyal  people  of  the  land  by  factious  op¬ 
position  to  the  national  cause'.  Political  hypocrites,  like  Maw- 
worm  they  “  wants  to  be  persecuted,-’  and  despairing  of  conse¬ 
quence  in  any  other  way,  espouse  a  cause  which  is  not  simply 
unpopular  but  unholy.  With  a  canting  pretence  of  regard  for 
the  liberties  of  the  citizen,  the  freedom  of  speech,  and  the  inte¬ 
rests  of  the  poor,  they  care  for  no  poor  save  those  who  have 
votes,  for  no  freedom  of  speech  except  such  as  repeats  their 
treason,  and  for  no  liberty  of  the  citizen  except  the  liberty  to 
defy  the  Government,  and  work  with  insolent  wickedness  in  be¬ 
half  of  the  rebellion.  Audacity  always  commands  a  certain 
degree  of  respect  from  the  unthinking ;  and  though  these  apos¬ 
tles  of  treason  run  less  actual  risk  than  a  mule  in  a  Confederate 
army  train,  they  give  themselves  out  as  second  only  to  their 
Magnus  Apollo,  Jefferson  Davis,  Duke  of  Deficit  and  Orchiarch 
of  Repudiation.  Like  the  fly  in  the  mail  coach,  they  flatter 
themselves  a  what  a  dust  ive  raise.”  This  dust,  however  blown, 
obscures  in  some  honest  eyes  the  merits  of  the  great  controversy 
now  pending,  and  distracts  their  views  of  duty.  We  wish  to 
present  in  plain  and  clear  language  certain  facts  of  history,  and 
to  paint  in  the  sunlight  of  truth  and  patriotism  the  true  charac¬ 
ter  of  these  deceivers ;  that  no  false  pretence  of  wrong  or  in¬ 
jury  received  may  enable  them  to  impose  on  a  public  too  gener¬ 
ous  ;  and  that  the  false  coin  of  their  pretended  patriotism  may 
be  nailed  to  the  counter  as  base  treason. 

The  true  issues  now  involved  in  the  elections  in  loyal  States 
are  not  hard  to  define.  They  are  simply :  Shall  the  republic 
stand  on  the  foundation  laid  by  our  patriotic  fathers,  or  shall 
the  nation  be  sacrificed  to  the  covetousness  and  knavery  of  the 
confederates  in  treason  ?  Shall  the  principles  of  freedom,  the 
honor  of  industry,  and  the  nobility  of  labor  be  defended,  or  shall 
the  dogma  be  established  and  accepted  that  capital,  North  as 
well  as  South,  has  a  Divine  right  to  own  in  fee  simple  and  to 
convey  for  a  money  consideration  its  human  chattels  ?  Shall 
universal  education  be  the  practice  and  the  rule,  or  shall  refine¬ 
ment,  and  the  exercise  of  the  higher  and  more  noble  faculties 
and  perceptions  be  restricted  to  the  rich  ;  while  the  laboring  poor 
form  a  pariah  caste,  forever  unable  to  emancipate  themselves  ? 

1* 


6 


Shall  honest  occupation  always  be  regarded  as  a  taint,  and  the 

test  of  nobility  be  uselessness  ?  For  be  it  remembered  that  the 
«/ 

Southern  oracles  give  out  that  color  is  no  necessary  condition  of 
slavery.  Poverty  is  the  sole  condition  precedent,  ignorance  is 
the  forced  lot  of  labor,  and  absolute  domination  of  the  rich  over 
the  poor,  the  F.F.’s  over  the  white  as  well  as  black  trash,  is  the 
new  gospel  of  the  Richmond  dynasty.  Shall  the  honors  of  the 
State  and  the  advantages  of  social  position  be  open  to  all  men 
according  to  their  capacity  ?  This  is  the  true  democratic  doctrine. 
The  new  revelation  is  that  a  privileged  class  should  hold  all  the 
advantages,  and  the  great  multitude  be  doomed  to  unrequited 
labor  to  support  their  masters  in  riotous  living.  Shall  the  great 
experiment,  hitherto  in  the  loyal  States  successful,  be  pushed  to 
farther  successes  ?  or  shall  we  shut  down  on  future  progress, 
pronounce  the  republic  a  failure,  and  inaugurate  in  the  North, 
after  Southern  precedent,  an  aristocracy  the  meanest  and  most 
miserable  that  the  world  ever  saw  ?  Shall  the  Union  stand, 
sacred  in  its  historic  memories,  proud  in  its  power,  beneficent  in 
its  operation,  just  in  its  laws,  and  glorious  in  its  future ;  or 
shall  all  this  he  abandoned,  that  a  slave  oligarchy  may  reign, 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific ;  and  the  kindred  despotisms  of  the  Old 
World  rejoice?  These  are  the  issues.  The  question  is  not  the 
existence  of  Slavery  in  certain  States  of  the  Union,  but  the  do¬ 
mination  of  the  Slave  Power  over  the  whole  continent. 

Shall  we  submit  to  this  ?  And  nothing  less  than  this  is  con¬ 
templated  by  the  conspirators,  who  lie  in  their  throats  when 
they  call  themselves  Democrats.  What  do  the  true  democracy 
of  the  country  owe  these  men  ?  And  on  what  grounds  are  the 
people  invited  to  sustain  them  ?  Resistance  to  the  National  Ad¬ 
ministration,  under  their  dictation,  is  simply  fealty  to  Jefferson 
Davis.  Support  of  their  nominees  in  the  State  elections  is  di¬ 
rect  war  upon  the  National  Administration.  War  upon  the 
Administration  is  war  upon  the  country.  It  is  equivalent  to 
mutiny  in  the  army  and  navy,  and  its  success  is  defeat  of  the 
national  arms,  by  land  and  by  sea. 

What,  we  ask,  do  the  democracy  owe  these  men  ?  What  do 
the  betrayed  owe  to  those  who  have  deceived  and  ruined  them? 
The  Convention  at  Charleston,  in  1860,  had  it  entirely  within 


% 


7 


its  power  to  sweep  the  course,  and  triumphantly  elect  its  can¬ 
didate.  Had  love  of  the  Union  been  the  motive  and  impulse  of 
the  Southern  pseudo-democrats,  they  would  have  united  with  the 
Northern  democracy  in  shaping  the  action  of  the  party  in  such 
a  way  as  to  secure  the  election  of  their  nominee  to  the  Presi¬ 
dency.  But  they  had  no  such  wish.  They  had  suffered  long 
enough  the  Northern  scum  to  come  between  the  wind  and  their 
nobility.  They  desired  the  dismemberment  of  the  Republic, 
and  they  commenced  the  work  in  the  destruction  of  the  party 
organization.  The  Northern  Democrats  had  defended  Slavery 
as  an  evil  to  be  endured  for  the  sake  of  Union.  The  South 
made  Union  subordinate  to  Slavery.  The  chivalry  had  long 
laughed  in  their  sleeves  at  the  honest  and  simple  confidence  in 
wTkich  the  Northern  democracy  acted  with  the  South  against 
their  own  convictions.  The  Southern  masters  presumed  that 
the  mudsills,  being  but  a  Northern  extension  of  the  strata  of 
Southern  white  trash,  would  only  too  cheerfully  submit  to  lordly 
dictation,  and  carry  fire  and  sword  into  every  town  and  hamlet 
of  the  North.  They  expected  and  desired  no  victory  at  the 
polls.  They  threw  away  the  predominance  they  held  in  Con¬ 
gress,  sufficient  to  nullify  all  the  measures  of  the  incoming  ad¬ 
ministration,  and  with  lordly  disgust  and  contemptuous  pity 
withdrew  from  Washington,  and  firmly  believed  that  with  their 
departure  the  whole  fabric  must  fall.  They  fully  counted  on 
bloodshed  and  rebellion  throughout  the  North,  and  that,  in  the 
national  weakness,  the  case  would  go  by  default,  and  a  Southern 
conspirator  be  proclaimed  at  the  Capitol.  Southern  officers  in 
Army  and  Navy  turned  traitors  by  scores.  Only  the  privates, 
the  people,  the  democracy,  remained  true.  Southern  office¬ 
holders  perjured  themselves.  Southern  leaders  carried  on  trea¬ 
chery  and  theft  on  a  scale  never  before  seen  since  the  world 
began,  even  confiscating  the  honest  debts  due  to  the  friends  of 
Southern  merchants  in  the  North.  All  men  out  of  their  evil 
camp  were  aghast  at  their  stupendous  villainy.  Even  their  pre¬ 
sent  foreign  newspaper  allies,  not  then  as  yet  subsidized,  stum¬ 
bled  upon  the  truth  in  commenting  upon  their  conduct. 

And  all  these  leading  traitors  claimed  to  be — Democrats  ! 
Again  we  ask,  what  do  the  honest  democracy  of  the  North  owe 
to  the  men  who  have  made  their  time-honored  designation  a  sy- 


\ 


8 


nonyme  for  all  villainy  ?  Perhaps  the  severest  trial  to  a  man’s 
complacency  is  when  he  becomes  disenchanted.  We  are  the 
creatures  of  trust.  However  much  some  men  may  pride  them¬ 
selves  in  the  “  dangerous  luxury  of  doubt;”  however  against 
certain  classes  and  parties  we  may  be  jealous  and  suspicious, 
however  wTe  may  boast  of  our  vigilance,  we  must  confide  in 
somebody.  In  proportion  as  we  suspect  in  one  direction  we 
trust  in  others.  Just  to  the  extent  that  we  watch  one  man  we 
are  careless  of  the  rest.  The  deer  in  the  fable,  blind  of  one 
eye,  kept  a  sharp  look  out  on  the  land  side  as  he  grazed.  The 
shot  that  killed  him  came  from  the  water. 

The  most  humiliating  disenchantment  is  when  the  veil  falls 
from  false  friends,  and  we  find  them  to  be  bitter  enemies.  The 
most  disagreeable  and  humbling  discovery  in  the  world  is  to  be 
convinced  that  you  have  been  used  as  instruments  by  designing 
schemers.  Men  who  have  professed  the  most  unbounded  devo¬ 
tion  to  the  common  object  which  has  proved  the  bond  of  friend¬ 
ship,  forget  all  that,  and  for  their  own  selfish  purposes  discard 
and  disgrace  you.  No  disgrace  is  more  keenly  felt  by  a  man 
of  high  feelings  and  honorable  purposes,  than  the  revelation 
that  in  all  his  past  labors  he  has  been  but  a  dupe.  We  can  ima¬ 
gine  no  mortification  more  thorough  than  the  discovery  that 
those  who  have  joined  you  in  a  course  to  which  you  brought  the 
highest  ideas  of  patriotism,  were  all  the  while  laughing  at  your 
simplicity,  despising  the  object  to  which  they  professed  devotion, 
and  seeking  only  their  own  unworthy  ends  at  your  expense. 

Such  is  the  position  of  the  political  party  in  the  North  which, 
up  to  the  time  of  the  Charleston  Convention,  acted  in  good  faith 
with  the  men  of  the  same  political  name  in  the  South.  And 
hence  we  wonder  not  that  among  the  most  zealous  of  the  Union 
men  in  the  forum  and  in  the  field  have  been  the  true  democracy 
of  the  Northern  States.  Revolutions,  like  fires,  reveal  secrets, 
and  the  domestic  troubles  in  our  midst  have  exposed  many 
Northern  traitors,  and  exhibited  them  in  colors  more  vile  than 
Southern  rebels.  The  Southron  has  the  excuse  of  prejudice, 
the  apology  of  fear,  the  claim  of  property,  and  the  plea  of  pride. 
The  Northern  traitor  has  not  a  particle  of  this  thin  covering  to 
conceal  his  naked  deformity.  He  is  simply  a  cringing,  servile, 
low-spirited  minion.  While  he  does  the  dirty  work  of  his  South- 


9 


ern  masters  he  is  meaner  than  the  black  slave,  because  his  ser¬ 
vility  is  his  own  choice.  He  desires  no  higher  honor  than  sub¬ 
serviency.  He  deserves  no  better  meed  than  that  the  lash, 
whose  sacred  function  he  defends,  should  reach  his  owm  carcass. 
A  terrible  retribution  is  in  store  for  the  cravens,  in  the  con¬ 
tempt  which,  already  falling  on  those  who  abet  Southern  trea¬ 
chery,  will  become  intensified  with  every  Union  victory,  and 
descend  in  intolerable  weight  upon  them  when  the  doom  of  the 
rebellion  is  sealed. 

But  the  great  mass  of  the  Northern  democracy  is  loyal.  Ho¬ 
nestly,  and  for  the  best  of  motives,  they  took  the  course  which 
they  believed  would  insure  the  permanence  of  the  Republic. 
We  will  not,  now,  stop  to  point  out  how,  in  efforts  at  pacifica¬ 
tion  and  conciliation,  they  strengthened  the  hands  of  those  who 
deliberately  planned  the  destruction  of  the  Union.  They  did 
this  unwittingly.  They  were  closely  watching  the  side  whence 
they  expected  danger,  and  the  ruin  came  on  them  from  an  un¬ 
expected  quarter.  They  were  zealous  for  the  honor  of  the  land, 
and  for  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  The  democracy  of  the 
North  gloried,  as  they  do  still,  in  the  proud  flag  of  the  United 
States,  and  were  jealous  for  every  star.  They  defended,  with 
whole-hearted  zeal,  the  heritage  our  fathers  left  us.  “  Our 
country,  our  whole  country,  and  nothing  but  our  country,  right 
or  wrong,”  was  their  motto.  For  this  they  sacrificed  their  own 
convictions.  For  this  they  denied  their  own  friends,  and  warred 
against  their  own  principles ;  deeming  it  better  to  endure  an  ex¬ 
ceptional  wrong  than  to  violate,  even  in  spirit,  the  compact  of 
Union.  And  their  reward  has  been  the  being  betrayed  as  a 
party,  and  misunderstood  as  men.  The  insolent  taunt  to  the 
free  democracy  of  the  North,  which  was  conveyed  in  the  impres¬ 
sion  at  the  South  that  the  Northern  democracy  would  war,  with 
the  South,  against  the  beneficent  government  of  the  United 
States,  is  second  only  to  the  insults  which  the  rebels  have 
heaped  upon  the  flag  itself. 

Nobly,  when  Sumter  fell,  and  the  rebel  banner  superseded 
the  stars  and  stripes,  nobly  and  everywhere  did  the  people  of 
the  North  rise  against  so  foul  a  desecration.  And  furiously  did 
the  Secession  fiends  reply  to  this  unlooked  for  demonstration. 

In  the  surging  on  of  great  events,  we  forget  small  incidents  ; 


t 


10 


yet  there  are  some  of  the  interludes  and  asides  in  the  great 
drama,  now  drawing  to  its  close,  tragedy  to  the  rebels,  triumph 
to  the  loyal,  which  it  is  well  to  remember.  The  fools  in  the 
action  of  the  piece  relieve  the  heavy  business.  The  Quattlebums 
in  Charleston  who,  with  seven  thousand,  had  driven  seventy 
men  out  of  Sumter,  waited  for  the  return  news  from  the  North, 
determined  to  give  the  suppliant  Abolitionists  no  terms,  and  to 
hear  of  nothing  from  the  Lincoln  hordes  but  unconditional  sub¬ 
mission.  But  when  the  result  proved  that  the  “  tremendous 
victory'*  had  not  appalled  the  North,  when  even  Democrats 
moved  in  mass  against  them,  when  the  whole  people  as  one  man 
pledged  themselves  to  replace  the  Stars  and  Stripes  on  Sumter, 
the  Quattlebums  were  raving  with  rage.  They  jumped  up  to 
give  their  curses  voice,  stamped  down  to  give  them  weight,  and 
fairly  danced  on  the  Northern  papers  which  were  crowded  with 
reports  of  speeches, — Democratic  speeches, — in  favor  of  the 
Union,  and  denunciation  of  rebellion.  They  roiled  the  obnoxious 
sheets  into  balls,  and  hurled  them  to  the  earth  in  contempt ; — 
gloriously  mad  were  they,  and  eloquent  in  action,  earnest,  if 
not  strictly  Demosthenian.  The  dusky  slaves  looked  on  in 
admiration.  “Fo’  Gosh!  Massa  mighty  mad  now!”  How 
does  “Massa'"  feel  to-day,  and  what  does  Quashy  think,  with 
the  despised  Yankee  Abolitionists  thundering  at  the  gates  of 
the  citadel  of  rebellion  ?  We  said  all  the  North  were  united 
then.  All  the  true  men  were,  but  some  men,  called  such  by 
courtesy,  sneaking  at  that  time  in  safe  compliance,  and  in  false 
pretence  of  loyalty,  now  creep  out  in  their  true  colors.  Pah  ! 
An  ounce  of  civet,  good  apothecary!  And  these  men  now 
edit  and  support  newspapers  more  acceptable  to  the  Southern 
taste,  advocate  measures  more  propitiatory  to  their  rebel  cousins, 
and  strive,  too  late,  to  redeem  the  promise  which  they  made,  and 
could  not  keep,  that  the  Democracy  of  the  North  would  sustain 
the  South  in  rebellion.  The  magnitude  of  the  lie  was  worthy 
of  the  knavery  of  those  who  uttered,  and  the  folly  of  those  who 
believed  it.  No  wonder  the  Quattlebums  and  Ruffins  (?  ruffians) 
were  furious.  Their  disappointment  was  awful.  Their  fears 
were  prophetic. 

No  slave  escapade  ever  equalled  the  throwing  off  the  Southern 
yoke  by  Northern  freemen.  The  “moral  force  of  indignation" 


11 


carried  all  before  it.  The  discovery  of  the  treachery  of  the 
South,  and  the  disgusting  revelation  of  the  manner  in  which 
Southerndords  of  the  lash  had  confounded  Northern  democrats 
with  Southern  slaves,  gave  the  war  an  impetus  which,  sometimes 
impeded,  has  never  yet  known  recoil.  The  vigor  and  firmness 
with  which  the  loyal  men  of  the  Union  have  supported  a  loyal 
government  is,  more  than  any  victory  in  arms,  the  honor  of  our 
land.  More  than  this,  it  is  the  assurance  of  success;  and  the 
true  democrat  will  not  for  any  party  triumph  defraud  himself  of 
a  democrat’s  honest  share  in  his  country’s  glory.  Only  those 
who  would  procure,  if  possible,  the  triumph  of  the  traitors,  and 
whose  “  wish  is  father  to  the  thought,”  will  in  this  hour  of  tri¬ 
umph  surrender  their  share  of  the  glory  which  Democrats  al¬ 
ways  have  won  and  worn  as  the  lovers  of  their  country.  To  be 
a  Democrat  is  to  be  heartily  loyal,  and  to  respond  to  the  well- 
expressed  sentiment,  “  One  God,  one  country.”  The  cheers 
with  which  that  terse  loyal  epigram  was  recently  received  by 
assembled  thousands  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  speak  the  sen¬ 
timent  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  banded  under  the 
Constitution  in  “  a  more  perfect  union,”  than  any  mere  confede¬ 
racy  can  cement.  • 

Ultimate  victory  is  sure,— sure  as  the  justice  of  heaven.  It 
is  the  fear  of  this  that*  has  forced  the  enemies  of  the  country 
into  desperate  measures.  To  defeat  the  Administration  is  to 
play  into  the  hands  of  the  traitors.  And  the  leaders  of  oppo¬ 
sition  to  the  Government ,  in  an  hour  when  ive  need  all  our 
strength  and  perfect  union ,  are  * simply  and  purely  rebels.  It 
is  not  merely  the  fact  of  opposition, — though  that  were  enough, 
— that  proves  them  rebels,  but  the  motive  of  the  opposition,  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  conducted.  There  is  not  a  measure 
proposed  by  the  miscalled  Democrats,  but  real  conspirators, 
that  would  not  tell,  if  carried,  to  the  advantage  of  the  traitors 
in  arms.  Beauregard  officially  proclaims  all  Northern  soldiers 
“Abolitionists.”  And  the  Richmond  papers  announce  as  the 
only  means  of  counteracting  the  “baneful  effects”  of  the  vic¬ 
tories  of  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg,  to  be  “  either  foreign  in¬ 
tervention,  or  a  determined  and  successful  opposition  by  the  con¬ 
servative  masses  of  the  North,  to  the  Abolition  faction  which 
has  the  control  of  the  Government  at  Washington.”  The  traitors 


South  and  the  traitors  North  are  in  perfect  accord,  and  the 
armies  of  the  Confederates  and  the  conventions  of  the  Northern 
conspirators  aim  at  precisely  the  same  object, — the  destruction 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  The  rebels  recognize 
their  allies,  and  yet  would  fain  only  use  them  till  their  end  is 
gained, — treat  with  them,  as  they  themselves  elegantly  express 
it,  with  their  fingers  compressing  their  noses,  and  then  spurn 
them  as  they  did  the  Democracy  at  Charleston.  The  supreme 
good  at  which  the  South  aims,  is  the  darkening  of  this  whole  con¬ 
tinent  with  chattel  slavery.  We  at  the  North  have  defended, 
or  at  any  rate,  tolerated  Slavery  to  preserve,  the  Union.  Now 
the  rebels,  through  their  Northern  agents,  call  on  the  Democrats 
of  the  North  to  destroy  the  Union,  that  negroes  may  be  kept 
up  to  their  old  quotations. 

The  Confederates  glory  in  the  name  of  rebels,  and  are  not 
ashamed  of  the  designation  of  traitors,  but  fancy  that  the  scorn 
which  attaches  to  the  term  “  Abolitionist”  will  weigh  down  all 
to  whom  it  is  applied.  We  do  not  discuss  here  the  question  of 
emancipation  ;  the  logic  of  facts  will  determine  that.  But  “  the 
disciples  were  called  Christians  first  in  Antioch.”  That  term 
oDreproach  has  become  the  world’s  highest  designation  of  honor. 
A  name  of  obloquy  becomes  at  last  h  tower  of  strength,  when  it 
is  designed  to  stamp  good  as  evil.  “  Democrat”  was  a  name 
given  at  first  in  derision,  and  repelled  with  indignation.  To-day 
no  man,  of  whatever  party,  is  ashamed  of  it,  except  because 
that  it  has  fallen  into  evil  association.  It  has  been  the  assu¬ 
rance  of  victory  and  the  badge  of  triumph.  The  time  may  come 
when  no  man  will  be  ashamed  to  be  suspected  of  desiring  that 
his  country  were  free  from  the  taint  of  Slavery,  even  though  on 
suspicion  he  is  branded  as  an  Abolitionist.  The  time  has  already 
come  when  no  true  Democrat  can  join  the  Southern  cry,  u  Perish 
the  Union,  but  save  Slavery!”  The  time  has  come  when  all 
true  Union  men  will  approve  the  measures  which  deprive  traitors 
and  rebels  of  any  and  all  property  which  supports  them  in  their 
treason. 

The  motive  of  opposition  to  this  war  is  purely  friendship  for 
the  rebels,  and  enmity  to  the  Union.  The  nominee  of  the  pseudo¬ 
democrats  for  a  responsible  and  important  office,  wrote  under 
date  of  March  7th,  1860,  to  Jefferson  Davis,  “I  should  like  to 


13 


t 

go  to  Nicaragua,  to  help  open  that  country  to  civilization  and 
niggers.”  Elegant  and  chivalrous  correspondent  !  And  he 
further  declares,  that  he  “  is  tired  of  being  a  white  slave  at  the 
North,  and  longs  to  go  to  the  sunny  South  !”  Pity  that  he 
■were  not  there,  and  all  his  comrades,  for  all  are  of  the  same 
complexion.  From  the  highest  down,  there  is  not  a  man  of 
them  who  is  not  forsworn  to  all  the  true  interests  of  the  people ; 
not  a  manager  of  the  precious  clique  who  is  not  a  ‘rebel  at 
heart. 

The  question  of  the  day  is,  Shall  we  flank  the  Union  armies 
by  an  alliance  with  their  foes  ?  Shall  we  sacrifice  the  country 
to  give  office  and  pelf  to  the  allies  of  the  traitors  who  are  in 
arms  against  us  ?  The  purposes  of  the  Southern  rebels  are  now 
apparent.  We  have  unconsciously  and  innocently,  and  from 
better  motives  than  they  could  understand  or  appreciate,  sup¬ 
ported  them  in  times  past,  before  they  bolted  from  the  Union. 
Shall  we  now,  with  our  eyes  open,  become  parties  to  their 
crimes,  and  aid  and  comfort  them  in  their  avowed  rebellion  and 
treason  ?  They  have  hitherto  made  tools  and  instruments  of 
us  for  their  own  selfish  ends,  and  deceived  while  they  despised 
us.  Shall  we  still  wear  their  butternut  colors,  and  do  their 
behests,  receiving  a  well-deserved  double  portion  of  their  scorn  ? 
Shall  we  be  the  servants  of  their  Northern  allies,  and  the  will¬ 
ing  dupes  of  men  wrho  emulate  the  chivalry  in  their  contempt 
for  honest  labor  ?  Shall  we  consent  to  the  estimate  which  these 
men  place  upon  us,  as  shown  in  the  language  with  which  they 
address  us,  and  the  appeals  which  they  make  to  our  supposed 
ignorance  ?  Are  the  Democracy  of  the  North  really  afraid  of 
the  poor  negroes,  and  willing  to  believe  that  the  black  men  can 
actually  come  in  injurious  competition  with  them  ? 

Worse  than  all,  are  the  free  men  of  this  State,  or  of  any  State, 
willing  to  he  classed  with  the  burglars,  highwaymen,  incendia¬ 
ries,  pimps,  pickpockets,  and  murderers  who  held  the  city  of 
New  York  in  terror?  or  with  the  K.  Gf.  C.’s  and  conspirators 
of  other  sections  ?  Whatever  these  men  may  be,  of  one  thing 
we  are  sure,  that  they  are  not  the  supporters  of  the  Administra¬ 
tion,  or  the  opposers  of  the  rebellion.  Their  foul  deeds  are 
hailed  as  glorious  by  the  Southern  press.  The  enemies  of  our 
country  in  Europe  congratulate  themselves,  that  the  riots  of 


\ 


14 


Governor  Seymour’s  friends  in  New  York  offset  the  rebel  dis¬ 
aster  at  Gettysburg.  Or  are  the  Democracy  of  the  North 
ready  to  be  classed  with  the  traitors  who  claimed  the  friendship 
of  the  invaders  of  Pennsylvania,  and  with  sycophantic  eagerness, 
pointed  out  the  houses  and  property  of  Union  men  ?  Yet  these 
rioters  and  domestic  enemies  all  vote  the  tickets  put  forth  by 
the  Northern  conspirators,  miscalled  Democrats.  The  candi¬ 
dates  nominated  are  selected  for  such  qualifications  as  will  re¬ 
commend  them  to  Jefferson  Davis  in  Richmond,  and  to  his  dis¬ 
loyal  friends  in  the  loyal  States.  We  must  doubt  the  character 
of  men  who  have  such  friends.  Rebels  vote  only  for  rebels, 
and  the  cause  which  recommends  itself  to  such  parties  cannot 
be  that  which  the  lovers  of  truth  and  justice  can  support. 

We  know  very  well  that  a  condition  of  war  necessitates  mea¬ 
sures  which  in  peace  would  be  insupportable  because  uncalled 
for.  But  whose  fault  is  it  that  these  measures  are  necessary, 
where,  except  for  the  invited  raids  of  Lee,  the  existence  of  war 
would  scarcely  be  known  ?  Who  is  accountable  but  these  very 
men,  who  now  demand  with  matchless  impudence  that  we  should 
support  them  with  our  fr<?e  votes  ?  Who  have  held  secret  cor¬ 
respondence  with  the  enemy  ?  Who  have  repeated,  so  far  as 
they  dare,  the  rebel  war-cry  amongst  us  ?  Who  have  given  the 
enemy  aid  and  comfort  ?  Who  ha  ve  persistently  embarrassed 
all  war  measures  ?  Who  have  employed  the  courts  of  law,  so 
far  as  chicanery  would  go,  for  the  prevention  of  enlistments  ? 
Of  what  school  are  the  Judges  (save  the  mark  !)  who  travel  out 
of  their  record  to  charge  grand  juries  on  subjects  as  far  from 
their  jurisdiction  as  patriotism  is  from  their  hearts,  and  who 
issue  writs  of  Habeas  Corpus  from  courts  whose  institution  in¬ 
cludes  no  such  privilege  ?  Who  are  the  inevitable  counsel  of 
deserters,  alien  enemies,  home  traitors,  cheating  substitutes,  and 
bounty  thieves  ?  Any  man  who  knows  the  roll  of  lawyers  in 
our  cities  can  state,  as  a  foregone  conclusion,  by  what  attorney 
any  person  arrested  for  a  crime  against  the  Government  will  be 
defended.  Who  have  steadily  pursued  the  one  darling  object  of 
enfeebling  the  national  arms  ?  Who  have  gloated  over  our 
reverses,  and  declared  that  the  rejoicing  at  victories,  the  out¬ 
burst  of  the  true  national  heart,  “ killed  them  by  inches?” 
Every  one  of  these  traitors  will  he  found  either  figuring  upon  or 


I 


15 

voting  for  the  tickets  concocted  by  the  pseudo-democrats.  And 
every  vote  thus  cast  is  a  vote  for  Jefferson  Davis.  Every  vote 
polled  for  the  Northern  traitors  is  a  vote  given  for  the  rebel 
dynasty. 

But  we  ask,  who  is  accountable  for  the  occasional  summary 

«/ 

exercise  of  the  war  power  among  us  ?  Just  the  men,  and  no 
others,  who,  by  their  sympathy  with  rebellion,  made  these 
arrests  necessary. 

{!  No  rogue  e’er  felt  the  halter  draw 
With  good  opinion  of  the  law.” 


And  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  complain  loudly  of  the 
rigorous  police  which  their  treason  made  necessary.  Yet  they 
would  not  for  the  world  that  it  should  not  have  been.  First 
they  have  the  benefit  of  the  occasional  arrest,  by  mistake,  of  a 
person  who  should  not  have  been  disturbed,  and  of  this  acci¬ 
dental  injury  they  make  no  small  capital ;  whereas  they  really 
deserve  the  blame,  and  not  the  Government.  And  next  they 
have  been  enabled  to  play  the  martyr.  They  invite  arrest,  and 
come  forth  from  the  show  of  punishment  rejoicing  in  a  notoriety 
which  nothing  else  could  have  given  them.  Some  men  would 
almost  be  hanged,  and  quite  be  pilloried,  rather  than  not  be 
notorious.  These  patriots  appeal  as  “jail  birds''  for  sympath}r. 
Let  them  find  sympathy  with  “jail  birds,''  not  with  the  free 
Democracy  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  “inner  life"  of  Moya- 
mensing  and  Fort  Lafayette.  There  are  certain  of  their  con¬ 
stituents  who  can  more  than  commiserate  them,  the  volunteers 
in  the  left  wing  of  Lee’s  army,  who  rioted  themselves  into  Sing 
Sing  by  the  amusements  of  murder,  arson,  and  burglary.  It  is 
hard  that  the  leadefs  should  be  sent  to  Congress,  and  fill  high 
State  offices,  while  the  poor  dupes  pay  the  penalty ;  but  this  is 
“peculiar”  to  Southern  chivalry,  and  the  Northern  imitation 
of  it. 

But,  it  is  said,  in  a  free  country  there  must  be  diversity  of 
opinions ;  and  all  men  have  a  right  to  their  expression.  In  or¬ 
dinary  times  this  is  true ;  but  when  the  life  of  the  nation  is  at 
stake  no  man  has  a  right  to  give  sympathy  and  aid  to  the  enemy. 
It  is  treason.  If  these  men  who  appeal  to  the  Democracy  for 
their  votes  against  the  Government  and  against  the  people  were 


16 


really  Union  men,  as  some  of  them  pretend  to  be,  while  others 
scorn  such  subterfuge  and  are  traitors  out  and  out, — if,  we  say, 
they  were  really  Union  men,  they  would  certainly  have  a  word 
at  least  in  defence  of  the  nation  and  against  its  enemies  ;  but  the 
burden  of  their  song  is  always  faultfinding  with  the  Administra¬ 
tion.  They  oppose  any  and  every  measure  which  is  taken  for 
the  defence  of  the  country.  They  are  foes  to  every  movement 
for  the  success  of  the  national  cause.  The  triumph  of  ■such 
nominations  Avould  be  better  than  a  victory  in  arms  to  the  rebels. 
Northern  traitors  dishonor  and  discredit  the  patriotism,  and 
trample  upon  the  corses  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  the  defence 
of  the  country.  Their  whole  sympathies  are  unqualifiedly  with 
the  rebellion,  whatever  they  may  pretend.  They  acted  with 
the  traitors  before  the  resort  to  arms, — not  innocently,  like  those 
who  have  purged  themselves  since  the  rebellion,  by  abandoning 
party  for  country, — but  they  acted  with  their'eyes  open.  They 
were  parties  to  the  foul  conspiracy,  and  are  but  maintaining 
their  consistency  now,  by  a  sneaking  warfare  which  merits  and 
receives  the  contempt  of  bolder  and  more  manly  rebels. 

And  these  are  the  men  who  call  on  the  abused  Democracy  to 
sustain  them  at  the  polls,  and  to  give  the  loyal  States  chained 
into  their  hands.  Suppose  their  success  possible,  in  what  would 
it  result  ?  Peace,  they  cry.  Peace  !  Peace,  but  how  ?  By 
letting  the  South  go?  How  shall  we  reach  this  result ?  Shall 
we  sue  for  it  ?  Shall  we  withdraw  our  armies  ?  Are  we  ready, 
then,  to  pay  a  ransom  for  our  cities,  which  the  South  will  cer¬ 
tainly  exact,  to  remunerate  themselves  for  the  cost  of  their  re¬ 
bellion  ?  Are  we  ready,  having  acknowledged  the  new  quasi 
republic,  to  resist,  when,  having  formed  foreign  alliances,  the 
South  demands  of  us  to  make  good  the  losses  of  foreign  blockade 
runners  and  neutral  shipbuilders  ?  Are  we  ready  to  establish  a 
cordon  of  custom-houses  along  the  whole  line  of  frontier,  with 
daily  skirmishes  between  soldiers  and  smugglers  ?  Are  we  ready 
to  consent  as  a  preliminary  to  surrender  without  offset,  the 
millions  of  dollars  lost  by  our  merchants  in  Southern  debts  ? 
Are  we  prepared  to  pay  their  confederate  debt,  and  to  compen¬ 
sate  the  slaveholders  for  the  riches  which  have  taken  to  them¬ 
selves  legs,  and  to  give  security  against  such  loss  for  the  future  ? 
The  South  having  become  a  foreign  nation,  are  we  content  to 

I 


17 


have  a  class  of  foreign  spies  and  agents  domiciled  among  us  ? 
For  these  agents  of  the  South,  judges  who  disgrace  the  ermine ; 
lawyers  who  escape  expulsion  from  the  bar  only  by  the  techni¬ 
calities  which  protect  great  rogues;  merchants  who  would  sacri¬ 
fice  their  country  for  an  advance  in  gold,  and  clergymen  who 
know  no  higher  law  than  that  of  the  money-changers  who  infest 
*  the  temple, — these  men  would  not  migrate  to  the  new  empire. 
Not  they !  They  know  better.  They  could  best  serve  their 
clients,  and  fill  their  own  pockets,  by  continuing,  under  even 
more  profitable  conditions,  the  part  they  have  always  played. 
They  would  still  claim  all  the  privileges  of  the  free  North,  at  a 
safe  distance  from  the  masters  who  despise  while  they  enrich 
them.  A  mine  of  wealth  or  a  harvest  of  blood  would  be  open, 
in  boundary  disputes,  navigation  questions,  claims  for  runaways, 
and  the  thousand  causes  of  feud.  These  false  Democrats  have 
counted  on  all  this,  and  hope,  in  their  nominations,  if  they  do 
not  secure  office,  to  secure  at  least  a  pre-emption  right  to 
Southern  favor.  Are  we  ready  for  all  this  ?  In  fine,  are  we 
prepared  to  bequeath  to  our  children  and  children’s  children 
centuries  of  war  and  bloodshed  ? 

But  the  quasi  Democrats  say,  “  Bring  back  our  erring  sisters.” 
Those  sisters  are  coy,  and  have  hitherto  resisted  all  the  gentle 
blandishments  of  Yallandigham,  Wood,  the  Seymours,  Wood¬ 
ward,  Reed,  Virgil  Delphini  Paris,  Bright,  and  Cox. 

We  might  lengthen  the  list  of  these  worthies,  but  we  have  no 
taste  for  the  enumeration,  and  would  rather  not  be  suspected  of 
knowing  too  many  of  them.  Besides,  these  men  give  us  the 
exact  creed  of  the  faction.  Their  utterances  form  the  Delphine 
edition.  It  was  a  happy  thought — perhaps  prophetic — in  the 
elder  Paris  to  name  his  boy  from  a  title-page,  and  to  make  him 
break  Priscian’s  head  with  his  every  signature.  He  must 
thereby  have  acquired  a  habit  of  blundering.  The  New  York 
Seymour  was  wise  and  suppressed  his  treason  till  he  had  de¬ 
ceived  honest  Democrats  into  voting  for  him.  The  others,  like 
Seymour  of  Connecticut,  and  the. traitors  in  Maine,  come  out 
openly  for  treason.  Seymour  of  Connecticut  declared  his  in¬ 
tention  to  subordinate  the  Union  to  the  State  and  was  defeated. 
So  we  believe  will  all  traitors  be,  who  openly  show  themselves. 
But  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  the  North  besotted  and 


the  South  restored,  not  as  a  pardoned  criminal,  but  as  forgiving 
the  North  for  daring  to  dispute  the  “  forbearing  South.”  The 
first  item  in  the  compact  must  be  a  full  recognition  of  Slavery 
as  the  normal  condition  of  labor  everywhere.  The  next  must 
be  payment  for  all  the  personal  chattels  lost  in  the  war.  The 
next  must  be  the  assumption  of  the  Confederate  debt.  The 
foreign  losses  by  the  capture  of  blockade  runners  will  have  to  * 
be  settled  under  this  compact.  Bills  of  claims  will  be  piled  up 
for  all  the  individual  losses  of  the  war.  And  if  the  old  Southern 
influence  is  re-established  they  will  be  paid  too  ;  for  never  did 
the  demands  of  the  chivalry  on  the  National  Government  fail  to 
be  met.  The  “alien  enemies”  whom  we  have  supposed  in  the 
alternative  of  a  separation,  wTould,  by  the  condoning  of  the 
felony  of  rebellion,  be  domestic  foes.  They  would  point  to 
their  record  and  claim  their  reward  from  the  South,  and  aid  the 
whitewashed  rebels  to  visit  vengeance  on  all  loyal  men.  These 
form  but  a  partial  enumeration  of  the  liabilities  our  pro-rebellion 
Democrats  would  place  us  under.  Bankruptcy  and  ruin  would 
follow  inevitably,  winding  up  in  the  Jeff.  Davis  specific, — 
repudiation,  especially  should  he,  the  arch-repudiator,  be  our 
first  President  under  the  new'  regime.  Such  no  doubt  would 
form  a  portion  of  their  plan.  They  would  not  even  require 
so  superfluous  a  thing  as  an  act  of  amnesty  for  the  rebels ; 
but  might,  after  persuasion,  grant  one  to  those  who  have  dared 
to  be  loyal  and  sustain  the  Administration  which  the  people 
placed  in  power.  The  “mudsills”  wrill  find  their  true  place  in 
the  new  “peculiar  institution”  dynasty,  and  be  starved  into 
submission  by  the  supplanting  of  all  domestic  industry  by  foreign 
manufactures. 

Such  would  be  the  consequences  if  the  dominance  of  the  rebel 
interest  vTere  possible.  But  though  no  such  full  development  of 
their  plans  can  occur,  yet  every  political  success  w'hich  we  per¬ 
mit  to  them  brings  to  pass  some  degree  of  their  villainous  de¬ 
signs.  They  have  already  protracted  the  war,  and  compelled 
the  draft  against  which  they  protest,  by  discouraging  enlist¬ 
ments.  They  have  invited  foreign  interference,  doing  what  no 
party  before  ever  stooped  to  do,  seeking  an  interview  in  their 
character  of  politicians  with  a  foreign  minister.  They  employ 
against  the  success  of  the  nation  in  its  struggle,  all  the  fears  of 


19 


the  timid,  the  stupidity  of  the  ignorant,  the  prejudices  of  the 
narrow-minded,  and  the  wickedness  of  the  vile.  These  are  their 
means  of  warfare.  They  play  with  the  men  they  deceive  as  with 
puppets,  keeping  themselves  out  of  the  way  of  personal  harm. 
Shall  we  he  classed  in  such  a  party  ?  Shall  we  suffer  the 
honored  name  of  Democracy  thus  to  be  stolen,  as 

“  The  livery  of  heaven 
To  serve  the  Devil  in?” 

Shall  we,  when  the  sure  retribution  of  justice  overtakes  these 
traitors,  have  the  bitter  memory  that  of  such  men  we  have  been 
the  dupes  ?  that  for  such  selfish  and  heartless  demagogues  we 
have  “fouled  our  mind?”  There  is  a  quaint  old  proverb:  “You 
cheated  me  once :  that  was  your  fault.  If  you  cheat  me  again, 
it  is  mine.”  The  men  who  ask  us  to-day,  under  the  false  as¬ 
sumption  that  they  are  Democrats,  to  vote  them  into  power,  are 
fellow-conspirators  with  those  who  brought  upon  us  this  war. 
Shall  we  join  them  in  the  endeavor  to  procure  the  defeat  which 
they  promised  their  confederates  at  the  South  should  fall  upon  the 
North  ?  The  holy  and  patriotic  instincts  of  the  nation  have 
foiled  this  double  treason  thus  far,  and  please  heaven  shall  for¬ 
ever  forbid  it.  The  struggle  may  by  political  chicanery  be  pro¬ 
longed  ;  but  the  triumph  of  truth  is  sure  in  the  end.  The 
question  for  all  men  is,  whether  they  will  keep  their  conscience 
good,  by  loyal,  consistent,  earnest  effort  in  the  cause  of  truth 
and  justice,  or  whether  they  will  be  to  themselves  a  perpetual 
disgust,  and  a  shame  to  their  children,  by  alliance  with  the 
pitiful  clique  of  doomed  traitors  who  would  fain  sell  the  heritage 
of  freedom  and  destroy  the  hopes  of  all  who  have  looked  to  this 
land,  and  to  our  free  institutions,  as  the  means  of  moral  and  poli¬ 
tical  regeneration  to  the  human  race. 

And  now,  reader,  whoever  you  are,  we  appeal  to  you,  earnestly, 
to  cast  your  vote  and  use  your  interest,  either  or  both,  in  the 
cause  of  the  national  redemption.  We  are  passing  through  a 
dangerous  crisis.  The  defeat  of  the  Union  cause  at  the  polls 
may  indefinitely  protract  this  struggle ;  and  to  protract  it  is 
to  invite  the  interference  of  meddlesome  foreign  governments 
against  us.  Already  we  are  humiliated  by  the  proclamation  of 
a  sham  empire  on  our  southern  border.  No  foreign  nation  would 


20 


have  dared  this  except  for  our  civil  war.  The  French  inter¬ 
ference  is,  if  this  war  is  not  soon  terminated,  only  a  commence¬ 
ment.  Other  and  more  decided  steps  will  be  taken  by  European 
governments,  only  too  anxious  as  they  are  to  stay  the  onward 
progress  of  this  great  people.  If  we  prove  ourselves  equal  to 
this  crisis,  we  stand  the  first  power  in  the  world.  If  we  fail, 
freedom  goes  hack  a  thousand  years,  and  old-time  feudalism  re¬ 
vives  by  the  victory  of  its  bastard  counterpart,  the  black-based 
feudalism  of  the  American  plantations. 

There  are  only  two  sides  in  this  contest.  We  must  vote  for 
representatives  of  the  Union  sentiment,  of  we  vote  for  Jeff. 
Davis  et  als.,  who  are  the  great  criminals  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
turv,  indicted  before  the  universe  for  treason  against  a  free 
government,  perjury,  theft,  and  murder, — a  treason  the  sum  of 
all  villainies.  We  must  not  regard  their  evil  deeds  with  any 
false  tolerance  or  sickly  charity.  They  are  unmitigated  in  vil¬ 
lainy  and  steeped  in  crime ;  and  those  who  assist  them  are  part¬ 
ners  in  their  guilt.  The  death  of  every  man  who  has  fallen  in 
this  unholy  rebellion  and  in  the  effort  to  suppress  it  lies  at  their 
door.  The  manifold  evils,  mischiefs,  and  sufferings  of  this  war 
are  their  guilt,  and  a  just  God  will  hold  them  to  answer  for  it. 
All  who  vote  for  their  Northern  allies  and  confederates  now,  are 
accessories  after  the  fact,  and  are  sharers  in  the  responsibility  of 
the  farther  continuance  of  this  desolating  contest. 

It  may  be  that  we  should  some  of  us  prefer  to  vote  for  other 
Union  men  than  those  who  are  placed  in  nomination.  But  we 
have  no  choice,  except  as  between  these  and  the  satraps  of  Jef¬ 
ferson  Davis.  Union  men,  true  Democrats,  would  not  suffer 
their  claims  to  distract  the  votes  of  those  who  wish  to  save  their 
country.  Party  lines  are  lost  sight  of.  Union  men  unite  on 
the  best  and  most  available  candidates,  and  the  issue  is  thus 
squarely  made  between  treason  and  loyalty.  Those  who  dare 
attempt  to  divide  the  strength  of  the  united  people  now,  are  the 
men  whose  antecedents  and  whose  present  status  and  declara¬ 
tions  mark  them  as  the  friends  of  the  rebellion,  anxious  only  to 
embarrass  the  action  of  the  State  and  General  Government,  to 
defeat  our  armies,  and  to  save  traitors  from  the  consequences  of 
their  crimes,  if  not  to  secure  their  absolute  triumph. 

In  such  a  position,  open,  declared,  and  above  board,  stands 


21 


V 


the  man  whom  the  conspirators  have  put  forward  as  candidate 
for  Governor  of  Pennsylvania, — Pennsylvania,  whose  record  in 
this  war  is  below  that  of  no  State  for  loyalty,  heroism,  con¬ 
stancy,  and  generous  sacrifice.  The  blood  of  her  sons  has 
crimsoned  every  field,  and  the  roll  of  her  martyrs  for  freedom 
is  attested  in  every  town  and  hamlet  by  the  weeds  of  the  widow, 
the  tears  of  the  orphan,  the  sorrows  of  the  childless.  On  all 
this  the  nominee  of  the  so-called  Democrats  casts  contempt.  Nay, 
he  sentences  them  by  an  extra  judicial  judgment  to  dishonor. 
His  sympathies,  and  if  we  may  accept  his  word,  his  convictions, 
are  in  favor  of  the  South.  He  does  not  excuse  Slavery,  but 
defends  it  as  divinely  sanctioned.  A  man  whose  word  cannot 
be  denied,  a  former  political  friend  of  Judge  Woodward,  pub¬ 
licly  states  that  this  aspirant  for  the  highest  office  in  a  free 
State,  says,  “  To  think  about  Slavery  is  a  sin,  to  talk  about  it 
a  crime,  to  question  the  right  of  Slavery  is  infidelity  !”  Hear 
that,  ye  holders  of  the  land  of  Penn,  and  if  you  suffer  such  a 
man  to  misgovern  your  State,  change  the  name  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth  to  Spot-sylvania,  Plague-Spot-sylvania.  Never  may  be 
such  insult  to  the  memory  of  the  great  modern  apostle  of  free 
government  and  free  thought,  the  founder  of  a  State  in  which 
was  passed  the  first  law  against  Slavery,  and  in  which  was 
formed  the  first  society  for  its  repression,  headed  by  Franklin, 
and  patronized  by  his  fellow-patriots  !  “  Judge  Woodward,” 

says  the  same  authority,  “  is  an  avowed  Secessionist.  He  be¬ 
lieves  in  it.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  school  in  which  he  was 
reared.  He  holds  that  no  man  at  the  South  carries  out  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  State  Rights  more  rigorously  than  he.  He  would  make 
this  Union  a  mere  organized  weakness.  Yallandigham  or  Fer¬ 
nando  Wood  are  no  more  committed  to  unconditional  peace  than 
Judge  Woodward.  Indeed  he  has  even  of  late  denounced  his 
own  party  for  embracing  the  warlike  opinions  of  the  day.  His 
opinions  are  upon  the  record.” 

It  may  be  that  some  of  us  disapprove  a  part  of  the  measures 
taken  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  while  we  heartily  wish  success 
to  the  national  arms.  These  are  the  davs  of  sacrifice.  It  is  a 
small  thing  to  sacrifice  our  prejudices  or  our  opinions,  when  the 
cause  of  the  Union  demands  a  united  front,  and  when  thousands 
of  our  countrymen  have  sacrificed  their  lives,  and  thousands 


more  are  maimed  or  disabled  for  life.  It  may  be  that  some  of 
the  consequences  of  the  war  displease  us.  But  war  is  at  any 
rate  a  misfortune,  and  this  was  not  a  war  of  our  seeking.  It 
was  forced  upon  us ;  and  if  the  necessities  of  the  case  have  com¬ 
pelled  steps  on  the  part  of  the  Administration  which  we  disap¬ 
prove,  let  the  blame  lie  where  it  belongs, — at  the  door  of  the 
Southern  conspirators  and  their  Northern  confederates,  who, 
and  who  only,  have  precipitated  war  upon  us.  It  must  be  that 
in  this  gigantic  undertaking,  the  vindication  of  the  integrity  of 
the  Republic,  many  mistakes  have  been  made.  The  wonder  is, 
however,  not  that  errors  have  been  committed,  but  that  in  de¬ 
spite  of  all  the  difficulties  which  had  to  be  encountered,  such 
vast  results  have  been  achieved.  We  hesitate  not  to  say,  and 
all  the  unprejudiced  must  admit  it,  that  a  more  triumphant  war, 
under  circumstances  so  embarrassing,  never  was  waged.  Never 
was  a  nation’s  credit  so  well  sustained.  Never  did  national  se¬ 
curities  range  in  the  market  above  par  under  such  circumstances. 
Never  did  a  nation  bear  so  wholly  its  own  burden,  or  decline 
the  aid  of  foreign  usurers.  Never  were  the  industrial  pursuits 
‘of  a  people  so  uninterrupted,  that  the  fact  of  abundant  employ^ 
ment  makes  it  purely  a  matter  of  choice  with  the  poorest  whether 
to  enlist  or  not.  At  this  very  day  the  national  securities  of  this 
country,  deep  in  an  expensive  war,  are  the  only  government  se¬ 
curities  in  the  world  which  command  an  advance  on  their  nomi¬ 
nal  value.  And  as  to  the  condition  of  private  citizens,  no  man 
who  is  willing  to  be  employed  is  idle.  The  taxes,  immense  in 
their  aggregate,  are  readily  paid,  and  without  distress.  A  go¬ 
vernment  under  whose  administration  these  pleasant  anomalies 
occur,  is  fully  deserving  of  our  entire  support,  until  the  danger 
is  over,  and  the  Union  restored.  After  that  we  can  afford  to  be 
partisans  again  ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  with  more  distrust  of  party 
managers  than  heretofore.  x 

But  in  these  very  facts,  in  the  smooth  rotation  of  the  civil 
administration,  and  in  the  wonderful  successes  of  our  army  and 
navy,  in  the  competence  of  the  Government  to  meet  this  im¬ 
mense  crisis,  and  in  the  startling  improvements  in  arts  and 
arms,  in  the  development  and  improvement  of  all  that  the  needs 
of  the  hour  require,  we  find  “  what  is  the  matter.”  Some  who 
oppose  the  war, — and  they  are  the  darkest  villains  yet  unhung, 


28 


— do  so  because  they  fear  its  triumphant  close,  and  the  utter 
extinction  of  treason,  and  all  that  treason  loves.  As  the  end 
seems  more  sure,  they  become  more  desperate.  It  is  a  thousand 
pities  that  all  such  sneaking  traitors  were  not'  in  range  of  Gill- 
more’s  batteries,  or  Grant’s  or  Rosecrans’s  artillery.  Perhaps, 
like  Cain,  they  are  reserved  for  a  punishment  more  severe. 

And  there  are  others  less  sanguinary,  but  meaner  still,  who 
oppose  the  war  because  they  hope  for  personal  advantage  in  so 
doing,  and  feel  sure  that  their  opposition  cannot  affect  the  main 
result,  though  it  may  despoil  the  victory  of  some  of  its  legiti¬ 
mate  benefits.  These  are  the  huckstering  politicians,  the  small 
wire-pullers,  who  would  consent  to  any  humiliation  within  safe 
limits,  for  the  rewards  of  little  ambition  and  the  perquisites  of 
petty  office.  They  could  not  aspire  to  flatter  Neptune  for  his 
trident,  for  that  would  not  pay ;  but  they  would  flatter  traitors 
for  their  votes  and  influence,  and  be  guilty  of  the  poor  hypocrisy 
of  dissembling  evil,  to  secure  the  suffrages  of  evil  men.  It  is  a 
*  dangerous  game — playing  with  loaded  arms  which  may  destroy 
them. 

No,  fellow- citizens,  we  cannot  trifle  with  the  great  issues  now 
on  trial.  We  dare  not.  Now  is  the  time,  sternly  to  discounte- 
nance  all  treason,  direct  or  indirect,  express  or  implied.  The 
eyes  of  a  world  are  upon  us.  The  hopes  of  a  world  rest ’on  our 
action.  We  must  vindicate  the  national  honor,  and  defend  the 
cause  of  free  principles.  We  must  rise  superior  to  all  party 
considerations,  and  put  the  fact  on  record,  to  abide  in  its  happy 
consequences,  while  the  world  stands,  that  a  free  people  can 
sustain  a  free  government,  against  foes  within  as  well  as  with¬ 
out.  We  must  show  that  we  can  even  let  our  personal  rights 
remain  in  abeyance,  and  defer  our  preferences,  when  the  nation 
calls  on  every  man  to  do  his  duty. 

This  rebellion  must  be  put  down.  And  the  only  agents  whom 
the  people  can  employ  to  do  this  great  work  are  the  present  in¬ 
cumbents  of  the  national  offices.  The  central  government  relies 
upon  the  state  administrations.  The  whole  must  be  in  harmony, 
to  present  an  unbroken  front  and  successful  resistance  to  the 
common  enemy,  the  foes  in  arms  at  the  South,  and  the  worse 
than  Southern  traitors,  their  Northern  allies.  The  utmost 
strength  of  the  nation  is  needed,  and  whatever  causes  embar- 


/ 


24 


rassment  to  the  Administration  is  a  diversion  in  favor  of  the 
traitors.  There  is  no  division  among  loyal  men.  They  com¬ 
promise  their  differences,  and  under  whatever  party  call  they 
have  rallied  heretofore,  now  rally  round  the  flag  of  the  Union. 
Every  vote  cast  for  those  who  are  in  known  sympathy  with  the 
rebellion,  is  aid  and  comfort  to  treason,  Down  with  the  rebel¬ 
lion,  then,  and  let  what  must,  go  with  it.  After  that  we  shall 
have  leisure  for  the  discussion  of  collateral  and  secondary  issues. 
Now  the  question  is,  the  Nation’s  Life  or  Death.  The  issues 
involved  are  too  momentous  to  be  disturbed  by  side  questions. 
There  is  no  danger  to  any  right  or  privilege  of  freemen  in  the 
conquest  of  treason ;  hut,  after  the  fall  of  this  Republic,  there  is 
no  redemption  of  our  commonest  rights,  save  through  new  years 
of  anarchy  and  suffering. 

An  inequitable  and  unrighteous  peace  cannot  be  permanent, 
nor  would  the  provisions  of  such  a  peace  be  tolerable.  Forward 
then,  under  the  leadership  we  have,  to  new  victories  and  sure 
success ;  falter  and  divide,  and  you  prolong  the  contest.  And 
above  all,  be  not  beguiled  by  the  professions  of  those  whose 
whole  record  shows  their  treachery,  and  whose  residence  among 
us  is  but  an  exile  from  their  own  place.  Again  wTe  say,  there 
is,  whatever  may  be  our  objections  to  the  “  powers  that  be,”  no 
choice'  except  between  them  and  the  oligarchy  of  Dayis  and  his 
co-mates.  “  The  Union  must  and  shall  be  preserved.”  The 
loyal  opposition  to  Andrew  Jackson’s  administration  went  heart 
and  hand  with  him  in  this  noble  sentiment  and  its  vindication. 
Let  the  loyal  men  who  did  not  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln  give 
him  similar  hearty  support,  in  his  equally  honest  and  patriotic 
course,  and  the  days  of  the  rebellion  are  numbered. 


